


Butterscotch & Tim Tams

by smileybagel



Series: Candies and Sweaters [5]
Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Budding Love, Could This Be Love?, Gen, Halloween Prep, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Rated Teen for Chuck's Mouth, Reference to Video Games, Ship Tease
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-22
Updated: 2013-10-22
Packaged: 2017-12-30 03:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1013473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smileybagel/pseuds/smileybagel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first of the Halloween supplies comes in and it's up to Raleigh and a grumpy Chuck to sort through them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Butterscotch & Tim Tams

"So help me god, Becket, if you don't tell me what all this _goddamn_ candy is for, I am goin' to make you swallow your teeth. 1" Chuck makes his presence known with that growl and a soft kick to Raleigh's backside as the Gipsy pilot sits on his haunches, going through a checklist and marking off boxes as he looks through the candy. Candy that, Chuck notes, is practically spilling out of the wooden crates that are holding it.

Raleigh, for his part, just laughs and spares Chuck a little glance over his shoulder. Chuck absentmindedly categorizes the sweater Raleigh's wearing as _comfortable looking_ and too big for Raleigh, like he had stretched it out or gotten from someone who was larger than him. "Someone's been playing Ass Creed again, I see."

Chuck sputters out a denial, as though he is embarrassed to have been caught playing such an ancient game. It's _old tech_ as far as anyone cares in this age, like how the makers of the Nintendo Wii thought the GameBoy Color was ancient and the NES was a fuckin' relic. When Chuck finally get over his fit, he notices that Raleigh stood up to face him, shooting him that dazzling ( _no, fuck you Chuck, it's not dazzling. get a fuckin' grip_.) smile and handing him the clipboard along with the blue ball-point pen. The _fuck_ was up with Gipsy pilots and _goddamn_ blue.

Chuck cocks his eyebrow at Raleigh and sets his mouth in a thin line, unimpressed with the Ranger and his actions.

"What you think I'm goin' to do with this?" Raleigh smiles again, ignoring Chuck's deadpan stare, and picks up another clipboard from atop an unopened crate of candy. Chuck sees the top of the paper for a second, but it's all he needs to see the word COSTUMES printed in bold, black lettering. _What the hell._

"I think you're going to take over where I left off while I start on this list." Raleigh points to his new clipboard like it's the most obvious thing in the world and it's when he speaks that Chuck notices the sound of _clack clacking_ coming from Raleigh's mouth. Fucker is eating the goddamn candy, too. Chuck doesn't know what the ever living fuck they needed this much candy for, or costumes for that matter, but damn it all if Raleigh thinks he's going to let him get away with eating the supplies.

"Oi, spit out that candy, _Rah_ leigh!" Raleigh squawks at him, dodging when Chuck tries to swat him with the candy clipboard.

"What? Why? What the hell, Hansen!"

"Stop eatin' the supplies!" Another swat comes at Raleigh, who backs away again until his legs hit one of the crates and he's cornered by Chuck and the weapon he's made the clipboard into.

"Supplies? What, no!" Raleigh points at his cheek where the imprint of the candy is visible. "This is from my personal stash, you dick!"

Chuck stops and lands Raleigh with a look somewhere between puzzlement and irratation. They don't speak for a few minutes and Raleigh takes the time to look at his clipboard awkwardly as his fellow pilot blinks at him. Somewhere, in their corner of the jaeger hangar where Raleigh had asked the candy and costumes be placed, someone clears their throat to dispell the silence between the pilots.

"...Why do you have a personal stash of candy, Becket."

"None ya2, Hansen."

Chuck looks at Raleigh again but decides it's not worth it, not when he has that distant look in his eyes he sometimes gets when Mori isn't around to keep him stable. The Striker pilot huffs and turns away, clipboard in hand, and picks up where Raleigh left off, like he had wanted him to do in the first place. There's a shuffle of feet as Raleigh does the same, starting the task of doing whatever the hell he needed to with the costumes.

"You never answered my first question."

There's a sharp sound as Raleigh strikes the paper with his own pen, making notes on the margin about something and checking off three boxed in quick succession.

"About what?"

"The candy and why it's here."

Raleigh lets the question hang and Chuck doesn't know if he's going to refuse to answer again or what, but the silence pisses him off even more. Then,

"Your dad didn't tell you?" Surprise raises the tone of Raleigh's voice up half an octave. It makes Chuck wonder what he sounded like as he was going through puberty, which leads to other thoughts about Raleigh's voice and _no, stop that Hansen_.

"I wouldn't be askin' if the old man told me, now would I? He just sent me down here, tellin' me to help you with some shit. Then I get here and you're surrounded by fuckin' candy of all things."

"Huh."

"So what's it for?"

"Halloween." Raleigh has this ability to sound nonchalant about everything, which pisses Chuck off to no end, and make it sound totally believable at the same time. As it stands, Chuck is having a hard time doubting the candy's purpose, especially with the presence of costumes, but logic and reason tells him that it's the middle of _May_ and nowhere near October.

"Or well, Halloween in June. Mako wanted July but I wanted to head back to the States with her for the Fourth and stay a while, so that plan was thrown out the window, you know. And it would have been this month, but the Kaidonovsky's had a bit of trouble getting some of the brands we asked for, so that took some extra time, and this is only the _first_ shipment, so obviously we won't have enough time to get everything ready before the end of the month and-"

"Becket."

"Yeah?"

"Shut the fuck up."

"...'Kay."

They continue to check off boxes and take invatory of everything that's been delivered so far, with Chuck dreading future shipments because he really doesn't want to do this again and with Raleigh occasionally murmuring song lyrics and swaying his hips to a beat only he hears. Chuck catches him doing it once as he stands to look for a crate of _Tim Tams_ (like they had known he'd been craving the things) and the smile that splits across his face is both sudden and entirely unwelcome.

Because what if Raleigh turned around and seen his dimples?

Chuck turns back around quickly and skips to the next candy brand on the list, telling himself that he will get the Tim Tams later, after Raleigh was done doing whatever he was doing and done being too adorable.

"So...Halloween?" Raleigh's quiet laugh follows the question and Chuck fights a smile off his face at the sound.

"My idea. Mako saw it in my memories and I suggested we get the 'Dome to have some fun this year. We're hoping for everyone to go with it, but of course some people will say no and be grumps about it." Chuck hums in response, looking over at the other pilot briefly before going back to his list. The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes the lack of Halloween festivities in his memories.

"I...I don't think mum and Herc ever really liked the holiday. I don't remember dressin' up and doin' whatever it is you Americans do that time of the year." Chuck mumbles, belatedly realizing that he mentioned his mother in front of Raleigh, but it was too late to take it back. From behind him, Raleigh looks over to Chuck fondly and sets his own clipboard down, walking over to the ginger and ruffling his hair. He earns a startled _s-shit, don't do that, you fucker_ for his actions, but he smiles that dazzling smile again and Chuck suddenly remembers the old post of Gipsy Danger and her Rangers he used to have up on his wall. Raleigh smiles at him the same way that damn poster did.

"Nah, Austrailia as a whole was never completely on board with it. Makes sense that your family would be one of the ones to not give a damn about it. But hey, you can try it this year and see if you like it, yeah?"

Raleigh ruffles his hair again with his right hand, using his left to dig in the pockets of his cargo pants. He pulls out a handful of gold-wrapped candies and nudges Chuck with his closed fist untl he holds out his hands.

"Do you _seriously_ keep that much candy-"

"From my personal stash, some butterscotch. You better feel special about this, Hansen. I don't give away my butterscotch to just anyone. Took fucking forever for Aleksis to get his paws on them too, from what I heard from Mako, so don't go wasting them."

Gipsy's pilot leaves Chuck where he's standing by the candy crates, dumbfounded and little flustered, and walks back to his costume crates. There's brightly colored fabric peeking out from the wooden crates as Raleigh flits around them, taking stock of what they have so far.

It takes Chuck approximately sixty seconds to focus his mind again. In that time, he doesn't notice Raleigh smiling at him, nor does he notice when his hands work on autopilot to pop an unwrapped candy in his mouth or to pocket the rest.

It takes Chuck approximately sixty seconds to realize he's falling for Raleigh Becket, and that he doesn't mind in the least.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. _"And now, I'm going to feed you your teeth."_ \- Chuck makes a reference to Haytham Kenway's one-liner in the early chapters of Assassin's Creed 3. Chuck is a fan of Kenway Sr.
> 
> 2\. _"None ya" or simply "noneya"_ \- just in case you didn't know the slang for "none of your damn business".


End file.
